Live Streaming 101

How Trump’s social media campaign won the live streaming war and why Buzzfeed thinks people watch live videos.

This morning I sat in on an event discussing live streaming via social networks. Topics ranged from the most popular live streams so far, the current state of technology and the opportunities for brands. Below is a collection of the most relevant takeaways.

Trump won the election on social

Although not entirely in relation to live streaming, Trump’s social media strategy and engagement did beat Clinton’s. His campaign focussed on creating live content primarily via Facebook which allowed him to connect with voters, while Clinton focussed heavily on TV advertising. His notorious apology video received 24 million views and although it has been criticised, the engagement is clear. An overwhelming majority of viewers responded positively with 440K likes. This article on Campaign provides great analysis on Trump’s social media victory.

why live videos get watched

The team at Buzzfeed shared their thoughts on the elements that make live streams watchable:

Absurd – People want to see something original, silly and not too serious. Make them laugh and they’ll keep watching.

Extraordinary – Breaking cultural events and news stories. Powerful emotional stories (good and bad) that people can connect with and move them.

before creating a live video

If you are looking to create a live stream, here are some key recommendations to bear in mind:

It’s hard to watch live streams during working hours. If you can, create multiple shows streamed over the weekend / evenings. Or if you have one stream, use your teaser campaign to judge when your audience will be able to watch.

Build out and agree a contingency plan in case of tech failure (which is possible and embarrassing during a live-stream).

Stream for around 45 minutes – this obviously depends on what you are streaming and why someone would watch. But it will take at least 10 – 15 minutes to get a viewership attracted to your stream and start to drive some engagement.